An armed robbery from more than a year ago in Upper Allen Township has been connected to a large-scale Mexican drug cartel based in Orlando, Fla., according to a news release.

On March 3, 2013, Upper Allen Township Police were called to a distribution facility in the 500 block of Independence Avenue for a reported robbery.

Facility security reported that during the night several men displayed a gun to a security guard and held him hostage while another member of the group arrived with a truck tractor and stole a trailer from the facility, the release states.

The guard was held hostage until the trailer was returned the following morning by the men. The suspects obtained personal information from the guard and instructed him not to report the crimes, according to the release.

After the robbery, Upper Allen Township Police determined there was a connection with a DEA investigation in Orlando, Fla.

Upper Allen Township Police began working with the DEA, and were briefed on the investigation at that time: Between December 2012 and June 2013, DEA Orlando was targeting a large-scale cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine distribution organization.

The investigation targeted a Mexican-based drug trafficking organization responsible for importing cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine from Mexico into the greater Orlando, Fla. area, as well as several other states, including Pennsylvania, the release states.

The DEA eventually infiltrated the organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, which had been operating and avoiding law enforcement presence for about 15 years, the release states.

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and responsible for the transportation and distribution of thousands of pounds of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.

During the investigation, Demis Ulises Mokay-Fong and Irvin Gutierrez were identified as two of the persons present during the robbery in Upper Allen Township and the leaders of that particular operation. Mokay-Fong, Gutierrez and other participants in the organization are awaiting sentencing in Florida, according to the release.